FoCuS
members Jan Schmidiger and Johanna Atman just returned from the Huge 2007 West
Coast Green Conference and Expo – September 20-23In this issue:
� A Conference that will change the world
� The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival Expands
� Exciting developments for co-housing
� Local Transit and state rail news
� The Arnold Rim Trail-Money on the Way?
� Would you use a FoCuS Center for your dreams and projects?
� Now that we Know, What will we do?—
� Our Own Personal Tipping Point
Mission:
FoCuS is a non-profit collaborative that educates groups and individuals about sustainable living and local community self-reliance. We promote collaborative relationships to achieve mutual well-being in Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne counties.
Core Values:
We recognize the intrinsic beauty of our region as worthy to preserve for future generations.
We recognize the vital link between the individual and the sustenance we derive from where we live (food, water, air, shelter).
We recognize that the level of human functioning is directly linked to the quality of the environment.
We value the contributions of those individuals who are presently contributing to our knowledge about living in harmony with natural laws and principles.
We believe that our relationships within the collaborative and those we seek to create in the larger community must be based on mutual respect, consideration of multiple points of view and effective communication.
www.foothillsustainability.org
focus@goldrush.com
POBox1812
Murphys,CA95247
The 2007 West Coast Green residential green building conference And Expo in San Francisco, September 20-23, set out to bring “expertise, products, inspiration and vision” not only to the estimated 20,000 people attending but also to “catalyze a full-scale market conversion infusing commerce with green values and public policy” that sustains the web of life.
The call to “Live the Change” infused each day’s plenary talk, opening with S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom, and including Sarah Susanka, author of “The Not So Big House”, Steve Wozniak of Apple Computer, Ed Mazria of The Passive Solar Energy Book and Architecture 2030 fame, the actual Erin Brockovich (not Julia Roberts!), Ed Begley Jr., Bill Weihl, the “Green energy CZAR at Google”. Each day continued with as many as 20 different presentations at any given time in 11 different tracks covering everything from “Design and Architecture”, “Energy and Power”, “Water and Landscaping” to “Purpose, Passion and Profit, “Homes and Our Health; and, of course, “Living the Change”. The expo included 247 businesses with an imaginative variety of materials and technologies to “Build It Green” and materialize the dream of aesthetic, energy-efficient homes.
What makes this conference unique is the actualized vision of Christi Graham, Founder and President of West Coast Green, “to extend the definition of green building beyond the walls of the house” to our total well being as humans and the fulfillment of our potential to bring positive change with joy. Living the change was all about finding your passion, owning your gift(s) and bringing it to the planet for the sake of all life.
Jan Schmidiger of Hardy Custom Builders, Certified Green Building Professional is a consultant, design and green builder in our community.
Johanna Atman, Whole Life Therapies, uses bodywork and other healing processes to focus on the sustainability of the individual, the "greening of the soul". Jan Schmidiger can be reached at (209) 728-3113 or (209) 743-6760 (cell). Johanna Atman at (209) 728-3569.
FoCuS
members Jan Schmidiger and Johanna Atman just returned from the Huge 2007 West
Coast Green Conference and Expo – September 20-23
About to relish Table Mountain Garden tomatoes at the Inner Space Office in Murphys, CA
FoCuS Fundraiser a Full House Success
Pride Wright, owner of Two Rivers Trading Company and The Harbinger magazine presented FoCuS with a check for $500 after a Black Bart Theater concert featuring singer/songwriter Patrice Pike packed the house. The contribution was made under the auspices of “One Percent for The Planet” an organization that helps businesses fulfill a commitment to the environment which makes their business possible by supporting an environmental organization of their choice.
One person who received the invitation to the concert but could not attend matched that business pledge with her own check for $500.
With no paid staff and regular operating budget, the contribution meant a great deal to those committed to growing the FoCuS collaborative.
Should you wish to make a contribution of any size, go to www.foothillsustainability.org
A Big Thank You to all those who turned out for the rockin’ concert!
FoCuS is presently exploring the establishment of a comfortable, beautiful and welcoming Center where
m
embers
can convene meetings, conduct workshops or teach classes related in some way to
sustainability. Please help us get a sense of how it might be used by answering
the following questions:
1. Would you plan to use the space provided?
2. What kinds of meetings, resources or wisdom would you want to offer others in the community in this easy access, beautiful and welcoming Center?
3. Would you be interested in being in on the ground floor of creating this comfortable, beautiful and welcoming Center?
Click focus@goldrush.com to reply
The co-housing group met with County Supervisor Steve Wilensky and is now meeting twice a month on the second and 4th Fridays of the month. The first meeting will always be at Mt Oaks School in San Andreas at 4:30pm. The second meeting will be at homes. Plan to bring potluck plus your own table service.
If you want to join us, call Merlyn Storm at 728-9866. Cohousing is like an old fashioned neighborhood, where you actually interact with your neighbors. We are in the beginning stages of developing a "Motherlode Co-housing Project".
The next meeting on Friday, October 26 will be in Mountain Ranch. Call above number for directions.
The focus of this meeting will be preparing a list of 30 co-housing attributes we want to assess. From this list we can develop an outline for pre-scoping meetings with the Board of Supervisors and the County Staff .
We are also planning to tour existing co-housing projects in the Davis and Sacramento area.
Karin Lubin EdD, coordinator for the Health and Wellness group and her husband Randy Crutcher MA, EdD on the FoCuS board recently completed a four session series for Columbia Community College ’s community education program, entitled “The Psychology of Prosperity.” Based on their coaching model for personal and organizational success and fulfillment, the course was well received and over-enrolled. It is clear that many people are redefining their life purpose in light of individual, family and global changes. Spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, social and financial health and prosperity are all within reach and essential for building sustainability from the inside out.
Quantum Leap Coaching can be reached at quantumleapcoach.net or 795-3127.
The Health and Wellness group will meet October 17, 9-10:30am at the Inner Space Office in Murphys (next to the post office). Johanna Atman and Susan McMorris will be presenting the values and concepts behind the Business Network International (BMI). Discussion will involve how this model may apply to furthering the mission of Health and Wellness to become a significant voice in our communities. Bring breakfast items to share.
Final engineering and design have been completed for
several
bus stop shelters in Calaveras County . The
county is moving forward to obtain right of way
permits. New buses have been ordered. Pending their
arrival, buses may be leased for the new Copperopolis
route. The County is also considering bus fare
increases (a one way trip is now one dollar).
In statewide transportation news, the California high
speed rail plan will go before the voters in one year.
In the meantime, Governor Schwarzenegger has cut
the budget for the project, which may result in the
consultants leaving the project. More information is
available at www.calrailnews.com.
Please participate in ridesharing. This is something
we can all do now to reduce fuel use. Ebbetts Pass
Rides is an online ridesharing group for occasional
trips to the bay area, the central valley, or
elsewhere. To join, contact Sandy Kasten at
aldebki@yahoo.com. Foothill Commuter Services, serving
Calaveras, Amador and Tuolumne Counties, provides a
free matching service for those wishing to share a
ride to work or school. Their web site is at foothillrideshare.com
The county has been very busy with bicycle user surveys and trail system planning this year, but it is citizen volunteers along with Stanislaus National Forest Service workers who are directly responsible for moving forward with the non-motorized Arnold Rim Trail vision, a 30-35 mile loop around towns and communities between Hathaway Pines and Big Trees Village on Hwy 4 that will provide easier, safer and environmentally sensitive access to giant old growth forest groves, streams, rivers, waterfalls, scenic vistas and more from local neighborhoods and well designated public access points. Signage and interpretive panels, disabled access and viewing platforms are all part of a $200,000 grant just submitted to the State Parks and Recreation Division. The proposal stands a very good chance of being funded and would help continue a community planning process with money for actual trail construction. Nearly half the trail route is on public land with other segments to be added as easements are negotiated with willing community members.
Contact
Lonnie Allison of the US Forest Service, Calaveras Ranger District for more
information about the grant and trail segment proposal. 795-1381 Ext. 309
FoCuS members Sandy and Jano teach
international folk dance at Kline's in Arnold . It's
fun, it's easy, and it's a great way to exercise. No
partner needed. Classes are usually held on the first
and third Wednesdays at 6:30pm. Contact Sandy
(aldebki@yahoo.com) to be added to the email list.
Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival on tour
(With FoCuS panels on select topics)
The fourth annual wild and scenic environmental film festival adds an additional venue this year. Hosted by Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch, Tuolumne County Citizens for Responsible Growth and Columbia Community College (with FoCuS as one of its sponsors) it will play
Friday October 19 5-10:30pm Black Bart Playhouse, Murphys
Saturday October 20 3-10:30pm Columbia College , Columbia
Sunday October 21 3-9:30 pm Bear Valley Lodge, Bear Valley
FoCus will host several 30 minute panels of experts between films including local and regional sustainable agriculture and nutrition, living in the solar age and sustainable building and shelter
Go to www.sierrafilmfest.org for more info. For tickets online
go to www.sierrafilmfest.org/tickets.html or call 209 795-8260
OUR OWN TIPPING POINTS –
John Adams (FoCuS Board member)
It became clear to most of us about a year ago that we in the US finally passed a tipping point of awareness about the need for urgent attention to issues of climate change and sustainability. Certainly the rapid growth of the FoCuS mailing list during this period is testimony to that passage in our region. But awareness of the urgency is not enough. Now we need to be urging our families and friends (and ourselves!) to continually find things we can actually do – actions we can take – to reduce our own “carbon footprints.”
There are so many simple things we can do – ride sharing, CFL light bulbs, composting, eating local, air drying clothes, turning off all lights and appliances (including computers) when we are not actively using them, etc. The next tipping point is personal action taking. Let’s each and everyone of us commit to discovering and adding one new carbon reducer a month.
Whether or not someone believes that climate change is being driven by human activity, we all probably have children or grandchildren, or know people who do. What can we be doing, on an institutional level, to ensure that they will have as many rich life choices as possible when their time comes? This third tipping point area will take a lot more work, and that is what we will be focusing on at FoCuS, as well as supporting our own individual learning and growth.
Update from the Agriculture Seed Pod
The Calaveras Green Schools Committee formed last year by parents from Michelson School in Murphys and FoCuS Board Member Josh Bridges recently acquired grant money to begin a garden at their school. With volunteer help from parents and community members, under the guidance of Agricultural Seed Pod leader and Farmer Eric Taylor, ground will be broken, fences put up, irrigation laid and cover crops planted before the winter rains. Congratulations to the parents of Michelson for their determination to offer their children a gardening experience.
The Agricultural Seed Pod will lead the Panel Discussion on Agriculture, Nutrition and Food Security at the Sierra Film Festival on October 20th at Columbia College . Joining the panel will be Eric and Christine Taylor, Taylor Mountain Gardens , Murphys, Mary Innes from Upsprout Enterprises, Tuolumne and Kathryn Lucas, chef and writer from Groveland. The 30 minute panel discussion is scheduled for 3:15 to 3:45pm followed by a series of films centered around agriculture. We hope that you can make it.
An Agriculture Seed Pod meeting will be held on Sunday, October 28 at 2pm. If your passion is centered around food we are calling to you to attend..... all farmers, chefs and nutritionists. Please contact Seed Pod leader Eric Taylor via email: tablemountain@goldrush.com.
Newsletter Editor: Randy Crutcher rama50@comcast.net
Note: Most back issues of the newsletter are posted at our website